Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Let's start off with the most basic question: Why bother to use Google? After all, there are other search sites out there.

It's true that there are other search sites, but none are as fast or effective as Google. Google doesn't necessarily scan more of the Web and index more websites than any other search engine. That's not really what's important. What it does better than any other site is deliver more accurate results. At times, the results seem so uncanny that you almost feel as if Google is reading your mind. (You'll learn more details about why Google is so accurate in the next section, "How Google Works.")Google does something else exceptionally wellpresenting its search results and enabling you to quickly go to the page you want. Its search results pages load fastthey're not weighted down with unnecessary graphics and adsand they're easy to scan at a glance. Before the days of Google, this wasn't how search sites displayed their results. They were heavy with graphic-rich ads, they were slow to load, and you often had to wade through a great deal of advertising and unnecessary material until you got what you wanted.With Google, your results are front and center.

There are reasons beyond accuracy and presentation to use Google as well. Google is constantly coming up with new tools to integrate searching and other Web services into your life. Google Desktop, for example, can search your hard disk in the same way that Google searches the Web, and you can even see both sets of results at the same timewhat's on your PC as well as what's on the Web. And there are plenty of other examples like this.